EDITOR’S LETTER
It all starts here
Since women’s magazines began, the first new issue of the year has always focused on self-improvement. Resolutions! Diets! Promotions! We eschewed all this at Red, preferring to remind ourselves that we are enough already and that we really don’t need the extra pressure. But 2021 feels different again. I have just heard that my 91-year-old step-grandmother is due to receive her coronavirus vaccine this week. To me, it’s a signal that a ‘new’ year is indeed upon us.
After the challenges of the past 12 months, shouldn’t we be living the ones ahead with fervour – using the experiences learned and the resilience built to help us carve out a brave new path?
As I write this, it’s exactly a year to the day that my family upped sticks, left London and moved down to the Kent coast. It felt huge and daunting at the time – but like most of my biggest life changes, it has been transformative, and I’ve not regretted it for one minute. Over the past year, during which we were able to do so little, what life changes have you been contemplating? Maybe now is the time to take action.
Our February issue has this sentiment at its heart. On page 26, Clover Stroud talks about the importance of recalibrating your internal sat nav and the power that can be found in forging a new path. We offer big ideas on how to live more sustainably and smart money resolutions on pages 38 and 44, respectively. On page 28, the brilliant and always inspiring Brita Fernandez Schmidt shares her techniques to discover your purpose and passion (or, as she calls it, ‘find your fierce’) and on page 140, Fearne Cotton discusses the importance of setting your boundaries and using your voice. We’re continuing this ‘seize the day’ ethos in other sections, too: in Fashion, we suggest creating a new you from the outside in on page 63; in Living, there’s the newest decor trend on page 90; and in Travel, from page 157, we reveal 10 of the world’s best spas – there’s no better place to reflect, reset and recharge.
When we were in the midst of conversations about our ‘big move’ and I was racked with indecision, there was a line from a Mary Oliver poem that I kept returning to, which ultimately prompted me to take the leap. I’m sharing it here, because I hope it will imbue you with the same fearlessness and, perhaps, help you to realise your dreams, too.
‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’